to thee on high, for such peace on earth and good will to men !"

"I am full of confidence," said Dr. Doddridge, "there is a hope set before me: I have fled, I still fly for refuge to that hope. In him I trust. In him I have strong consolation, and shall assuredly be accepted in the beloved of my soul." Many instances of a similar kind will be recollected by those who have read authentic accounts of the lives and deaths of good men. And now, reader, do you heartily desire that Christ may be thus precious to you in your last moments? Do you breathe out the wish of Balaam, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his?" Then,

1. Hasten, by faith, to the fountain of the Redeemer's blood. Can all the world make death easy to that man who is overwhelmed with a mountain of guilt? Do you not shudder at the idea of being summoned away while unpardoned, unchanged, unsanctified? Do you not dread to think of meeting Jesus as a judge, before you have heartily acknowledged and received him as a Saviour? And how are these tremendous consequences to be avoided? There is but one way, and that is, aith in the atonement made by the Son of

God. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." Thousands of rams slaughtered in sacrifice, and ten thousand rivers of oil, could not purge away one transgression. But here is a propitiation sufficient to cancel the longest list of the blackest crimes and iniquities. God graciously condescends to remonstrate with us. 66 'Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isa. i. 18). Remember, that right views of the Saviour's death are necessary to give bright hopes to your death. Let not the enemy tempt you to delay. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." The fountain of pardoning blood is open, the invitations of the Gospel are sounding in your ears, and the sceptre of mercy is still extended to you: then linger not, but entrust your everlasting concerns in the hands of Jesus.

2. Would you experience the preciousness of Christ in your last moments? then seek the influence of the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. What could be more dreadful than to feel a dark uncertainty, and a distressful conflict about your state, when you are just entering into eternity? What, if in that awful

hour you should break out, "I am going, but oh! whither am I going; heaven, or a child of hell?

am I an heir of

This body must

soon sink into the grave, a prey to worms and corruption: but what will become of my soul? Perhaps I shall be saved; perhaps I shall be lost. Oh! that I had some heavenly record, in which I could read my acceptance with God, or some kind ministering angel to whisper peace." Remember, if you wish to be free from such perplexity, that it is the office of the Holy Spirit to seal the saints unto the day of redemption. Pray that he may work in you that faith which shall enable you to lay hold on the great and precious promises. You will then need no other record in which to read your title clear to glory. These promises, which are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus, will be your support through life, and your passport from it to a better. Pray that the Holy Spirit may witness with your spirit, that you are one of the children of God. This inward witness will impart more confidence and comfort, than if a thousand ministering angels should surround your dying bed, to soothe the agonies of sinking nature, and soften your passage through death to the fair realms of eternal bliss.

3. Would you experience the preciousness

of Christ in your last moments? then be continually in a waiting posture for the coming of the Lord.

At most, you have but a few years to stay on earth. A thousand solemn admonitions daily warn you of approaching dissolution. The particular time, indeed, is kept an undiscoverable secret in the decrees of heaven. Our times are in the hand of God. Do not then trifle away the golden hours of opportunity, which will never return. "You are;" as the pious Dr. Watts speaks, "a borderer on the river of death, which will soon convey you into the eternal world, and therefore should be ever waiting the call of your Lord, that you may be ready to launch away to the regions of immortality. And are you then a thoughtless creature, perpetually wandering far up into the fields of sense and time, gathering the gay and fading flowers which grow there; or making garlands for ambition to crown your brow, till you shall be called off on a sudden, and hurried away from this mortal coast?" Take heed that you are not lulled into a spirit of careless indifference, by the things of the world. "Watch and pray,

for

you know neither the day, nor the hour, when your Lord shall come."

CHAP. V.

THE USE OF THOSE MEANS RECOMMENDED, WHICH HAVE A TENDENCY TO ENDEAR CHRIST.

"THE sacred writers," says an admired author, "have made things clear, in proportion as they are momentous; and such is the perspicuity with which many of the principles of religion are laid down in Scripture, that we should deem it impossible for them to be misunderstood, did we not know how easy it is to perplex a rule by which we dislike to walk, and remember what a power there is in the passions to pervert the dictates of the understanding, and baffle the admonitions of conscience." What can be more plain in Scripture, than that God has connected every desirable end with suitable means? When temporal prosperity is the object of pursuit, this truth is instantly perceived, and universally acknowledged. He would be thought deficient in common sense, who should expect his lands to produce valuable crops without culture, or his trade to go on successfully without order, attention, and diligence: yet it is to be lamented, that there are some who boldly attempt to sever the intimate connection that subsists